Power Rangers: The Tragic Death of Billy
It was so ironic. A colour he had hated was now his calling. He had grown up a patriot. A proud Scot, worshipping everything that was blue. The St Andrews Cross and of course, the light blue of Rangers Football Club Green, white and gold. The colour of the enemy, the team from across the city. Those battles he had witnessed in his youth paled in comparison to those he saw, and was involved in now. He was honoured to wear that suit in battle. He closed his eyes and saw the armour in his mind's eye. The fierce jaw shaped visor of the helmet, the red gem sitting proudly in it's place. The golden shield protecting his chest, the diamond covered the main part of his upper body. The belt morpher, the holder of the coin which drew his power. And on his left hip was the thing he treasured most. The famous Dragon dagger. The calling device for his powerful ally, the Dragonzord. When not in need, the great beast rested below the ocean of Angel Grove harbour, awaiting the call from it's master. He had adusted to the new responsibility of being the Green Ranger. He was glad he was doing good, but the price of doing that good had been high. It had cost the life of his great friend and former professor Gordon McGregor. Max Walker took the picture off of his shelf in his front room. It was of McGregor and him at his high school graduation. "I owe you so much. And when you needed me, I let you down. I won't allow what happened to anyone else." He looked down at the morpher on the corner table. Tommy Oliver was lost in his thoughts. In his time as a power ranger, both as Green and White Rangers, he had seen a lot of things but what had happened over the last few weeks had really shook him up. Lord Zedd had stepped up his invasion plans. The six Rangers had been overpowered at every turn and then, out of nowhere, The...A Green Ranger had shown up. Fully charged as well. Billy, Kim and the others seemed to welcome the return of the fallen powers. And in a way, he did too. The bottom line though...he didn't trust this new guy. "Hey bro." He looked up to see Jason Lee Scott, Red Ranger, sit down at his table. "Hey Jase." Jason motioned to the steaming cup on the table. "That decaf?" Tommy shook his head in response. "What's on your mind?" "Nothing." Tommy protested, feebly at that. Jason saw right through his friend's paper thin defence and Tommy knew it. "C'mon, man." "This new Green Ranger has got me a little shook up. I'll get over it." Jason nodded as the waitress delivered his drink. "I just wish we knew where his powers came from." "No luck retuning the Command Centre scanners?" Jason shook his head. "Billy and Alpha have been on it twenty-four-seven. It seems he has a second power intake. It's masking our sensors." Tommy raised his cup in a mock toast. "Well, heres to our resident geniuses." Jason returned the gesture, slapping his cup against his friends. "I'll drink to that." Tommy glanced down at his watch and almost choked on his drink. "Sorry, but I gotta go." Jason nodded and watched his old friend leave the youth centre. Zedd had mourned the loss of Scorpina as if he had lost one of his own children. Scorpina and Goldar were the closest he would have to children of his own. And that was something he regretted. He had watched the anger drive Goldar in his workouts. His visciousness knew no bounds. The gym had almost completley been destroyed. The Dark Dimension lay in ruins. "Goldar!" He approached his master's side. "Yes sir?" he said, the spite evident in his voice. "The White Ranger is alone in the park. I know he is not the Ranger you long to kill now, but it will be a good exercise until we launch a full assualt." The fire welled up within him. He needed a way to vent this aggression. The White Ranger was as good a target as anyone. "Patrollers!" It still bugged him. Who was this guy? He knew who he was, but he didn't trust him. True, he had saved their lives and probably those of a great many people. But how? Zordon and Alpha had spent many an hour trying to recharge the Green power coin and this guy had seemed to manage it. In a way, Tommy resented him. He was jealous. He thought back to a time when those powers were his, playing the flute to summon his mighty Dragonzord to battle. Fighting with and against the other Rangers and Dinozords. He missed those days. What he couldn't figure out was why though. He had stronger powers and a more powerful zord at his command. "Tommy!" The growl brought him back to his senses. His journey interrupted, White Ranger came to a stop facing Goldar and the putty patrol. "Goldar. What do you want?" "The Green Ranger," the monster growled, "But my friends here will settle for you." And with that, the putty patrol moved out. Tommy watched as the whiteish sodiers surrounded him. "Okay, you wanna dance?" he smirked before allowing his expression to become serious, "Let's dance!" He tore into the crowd of putties. The soldiers he had battled so many times before, the prelude to an attack. The putties were no match for the human's skill. Anyone who was watching would have been forgiven if they had felt sorry for every patroller who came into contact with a flying fist or foot. He finished off the last of the patrol. "You're next, Goldar!" he cried, "It's morphin' time!" He activated his power morpher and brought it to ready. "White Tiger!" Goldar's mouth watered. White Ranger had ridiculed him in battle before. But today was another day. A new dawn. White Ranger came at him. Goldar sidestepped the charge, catching the ranger off balance. He grabbed him by the shield and threw him back across the clearing. The gold warrior was too strong for the White Ranger. "What's the matter, ranger? Am I too strong for you? Not the same enemy you remember?" White Ranger struggled to sit up, clutching his chestplate. "You'll never beat the Power Rangers." "The only Ranger I have an interest in is you...the former you. The Green Ranger." "Then why don't you come and get some, big boy?" Both Ranger and alien turned to see the Green Ranger materialise. He rushed Goldar, blocking the downward swipe from his sword with the Dragon Dagger. White Ranger took that as his cue and unsheathed Saba, slashing Goldar across his torso with the enchanted blade. The alien warrior stumbled back, clutching his wounded stomach. he pointed at the Green Ranger. "We'll finish this later." "Yes we will." Green Ranger turned to his counterpart. He helped the White Ranger to a standing position. "You okay?" "Yeah, thanks." They looked up to see the other Rangers approaching. "Zordon said you could use some help." Red Ranger adressed the White Ranger. White Ranger shook his head. "I'm okay." Blue and Black Rangers took him off Green Ranger's hands. "Get Zordon to look him over." Yellow Ranger turned to him. "Thank you again, Max." Green Ranger saluted, "Not a problem. If you'll excuse me...I'll check there are no patrollers loose." He touched his morpher and was gone in a column of green light. The other Rangers powered down as soon as he was gone. Tommy grimaced in pain. "Tommy, are you sure you're okay?" Kim asked. Tommy nodded and freed himself of Zack and Billy's holding. "Who is this guy?" Zack shrugged, "I don't know. But he's saved you twice now." Tommy nodded, not wanting to admit he was in debt to the mysterious Ranger. Max had powered down as soon as he was clear of the rangers. Goldar's words echoed in his ears, knowing what he meant. Goldar had killed the man who was as close to a father as he would ever have. He had helped kill Scorpina. In a way, it had been justice. In another, it was a cold blooded murder. He felt nothing. Did that make him as bad as Goldar? He didn't know. But there was one person who could help him find out. He rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal his communicator and pressed the transmission button. "Max to Zordon, I need to speak with you. Are the other Rangers in the Command Centre?" "No, Green Ranger. They are not. Would you like me to summon them?" "No. I'm on my way." Zedd waited for Goldar to finish his report. "So, White Ranger seemed reluctant to trust the Green Ranger?" Goldar nodded and grimaced. "Is it still bothering you?" Zedd asked. He shook his head. "I think the White Ranger is jealous of Green Ranger. I think it is a weakness we should atempt to exploit." Zedd nodded. "However, in order to thatwe would need a monster capable of conducting such a spell." Finster, who had been lurking in the background, now stepped up. "We did something similar to this last year. We turned Tommy and Jason against each other." Zedd turned to him. "What monster?" "A shark." "Well to split them, we will need more than one monster. We will resurrect the Slippery Sark and Pirantis Head to launch a two pronged attack on the city. Goldar, go to the storage area and bring me crate thirty five-A." Goldar froze at the mention of the forbidden crate. "Thiry five-A?" "Yes. Bring me the mutant morphers, now!!" Green Ranger materialised in the command centre. "Zordon." "Welcome again, Green Ranger." Max turned to see the small android approaching him. Zordon's intimidating prescense filled the room."Thank you for allowing me to come here, Zordon." "You are always welcome here, Green Ranger." "There are some things I need to know." "How can I help you?" Tommy and Kim had left the others in the youth centre and were walking home. "I'm sorry, Kim." "For what?" Tommy stopped. "This whole Green Ranger business. Its kinda put me on the spin a little." She nodded. "Its brought back some memories for us as well. The Green ranger, not knowing who he is." Tommy nodded. "We know who he is Kim, but we don't know him...let's just forget about it. We have the rest of the day to ourselves." he smiled, pulling her in close. "Mmmm, what do you have in mind?" she smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. They were interrupted by an alarm. Tommy looked up. It was coming from the bank, straight ahead. 'Look." Kim pointed. Leaving the bank along with a group of putty patrollers was the Green Ranger. "Take this to Lord Zedd." Tommy shook his head and sighed, "I knew it was too good to be true." Tommy looked around. "Too many people. We can't morph here." Kim reached for her communicator. "Kim to Jason..." Zordon watched as the viewing globe came on line. "I am detecting a disturbance downtown." Max and Alpha turned to see the bank come onto the screen. The Green Ranger. "How can I be there when I'm here?" Max asked. The camera focused on Green Ranger taunting a pair of teenagers. "No time for questions, Green Ranger. You must get there immediately." Max nodded and activated his morpher. "Dragonzord!" Tommy challenged Green Ranger. "How could you turn on the Power Rangers like that?" "Like this!" he growled, and threw Tommy to the ground. "You know, if you are gonna try to be me, you should smile once in a while!" Tommy and Kim turned with the rest of the crowd to see another Green Ranger leap down from a skyscraper. "I hate people who copy others, and especially when those others are me." He landed right in front of Tommy, unsheathing the Dragon Dagger in one fluient movement. "Get outta here people." Before anyone could move, the two Green Rangers charged into battle. Tommy and Kim dashed down a side alley, only to run into the Red, Blue, Black and Yellow Rangers making thir way to the battle. "Zordon filled us in." Jason reported, "You guys better morph." The six onrushing rangers battled their way through the crowd. One of the Green Rangers landed at his feet. "We thought you could use a hand." "Thanks." Green Ranger got to his feet and thumped the White Ranger. The other Green Ranger got to his feet to see his conterpart attacking the White Ranger. He managed to attract the Black Ranger's attention. "Help him. I'll get the money." Zack threw the other Green Ranger off Tommy. "You okay, man?" White Ranger dusted himself down. "Fine. Let's get these guys!" Green Ranger tore into the putty patrollers, destroying them left and right. He worked his way through to the one who had the bag of money. "Hand it over, now!" he demanded, drawing the dragon dagger to emphasise his point. The putty shrugged and threw the bag up in the air. Green Ranger caught it as it came down. "Jerks." The other Rangers ran up to him. The patrol had gone. "Why does Zedd want money?" Yellow Ranger asked. Green Ranger shrugged, and proceeded to open the bag. "Run!" he stated. "What?" Red Ranger asked. Green Ranger threw the bag away and yelled, "Bomb!" He just had time to finish his sentence as it went off, taking half the street with it. "Rangers, you okay?" White Ranger looked up to see a police officer helping him to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. The others?" He looked around to see all his friends on their feet. Each gave him a thumbs up. "We're all okay." "Not all of you," the officer continued, "Wheres Green Ranger?" Red Ranger signalled the others. "I found him." Black Ranger supported the other side of the unconscious Green Ranger. His helmet was missing, exposing his face. His dragon shield scorched. The other Rangers formed a circle around them. "Zordon," White Ranger spoke into his wrist, "Bring us in!" There was a second delay, allowing Jason to retreive the Dragon helmet before they vanished in a group telport. Alpha helped lay the Green Ranger down on a stretcher bed. "His injuries are bad." "He took the full force of the blast." Jason stated as he placed the helmet down on the console edge. Alpha slammed his fist down on the console. "I can't get a clear reading with his suit still on." Tommy looked at Jason, Zordon and then down at the man who had saved them twice now. "Take it off." Zordon now intervened. 'Then I must ask you to leave, Rangers." "We'll be powered down when he wakes up." Zack stated, "We're not leaving." Zordon scanned the looks on the Rangers' faces. Even the old sage wasn't going to win this argument. "Wait a minute," Tommy paused, "We may need the Dragonzord if Zedd launches an attack before Max recovers." Billy came round beside Tommy. "He's right, we need access." Pirantis head waited as the putty patroller disguised as Green Ranger approached and delivered his report. One Ranger down, six to go. He turned to his partner, the Slippery Shark. Zedd had created a new leader for this squadron. Commander Crayfish was heading it now, renamed Sea Division. He had lead the mutant Rangers in a failed attack against the Rangers before and had been unlucky to lose. As he was leading the front line, there was no White mutant ranger. Red, Black, Yellow, Pink, Green and Blue all had counterparts. Pirantis head and Shark turned him. "We are ready to initiate stage two of our plan." Pirantis head stated. Crayfish nodded. "All right you two, go to work. Goldar, we're ready." "I'm on my way to Earth. Have your minions join me." Tommy watched as Alpha treated the injured Green Ranger. Every now and then, the android would come over to get a fresh dressing for the wounds. "How is he?" "The same as the last fifty times you asked." the robot replied. Tommy nodded and smacked his hand down against the console. "Be careful, Tommy. We cannot afford to have two injured Rangers." "That blast should have been for me, Zordon." "What do you mean, Tommy?" "I shouldn't have let one of my own get injured." "Green Ranger is not one of your own." "He is, in a way." The conversation was interrupted by the roar of five teleportation beams. Zack checked with the agitated Alpha five before joining the Rangers before Zordon. Before anyone could say anything, the alarm kicked into life, echoing around the command centre. As one, the rangers turned to the viewing Globe. One unmistakable monster. Goldar. "Looks like we're going to need the zords." Billy stated. "Let's go to work. It's Morp...." Tommy yawned. Jason put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We can handle it, man. Get some rest." Tommy nodded, heeding his friend's advice. "Let's take Goldar back to the old school," Jason called, "It's Morphin' Time!!" "Mastadon!" "Pteradactyal!" "Triceratops!" "Sabre Tooth Tiger!" "Tyrannosaurus!" Black Ranger was first to materialise. "Let's go to work guys. We need Thunderzord power, now!" The fleet of Thunderzords surfaced from their hiding places deep within the crust of the Earth at the call of their owners, led by the Red Dragon. Jason materialised in his cockpit. "Engage Thunderzord assualt team!" The Sled formed between the Lion, Griffin, Unicorn and Firebird. The Dragon merged last, standing proud in the middle. "Engaging manual control!" Zack called, "You are now flying Zack airlines!" The Dragon slashed Goldar with his staff as it flew by. On the return though, Goldar caught it and threw it to the ground. "We need Thunder Megazord power, now!" Jason called. The Megazord linked up within a matter of moments. It faced off with Goldar. "Time for stage two!" Billy's eye caught something moving on the ground below. "What is that?" Trini saw it too. "Is that...?" "Pirantis head." Jason finished. The fish monster looked up. "Got it in one, Rangers. Remember this little trick?" .He blew on his flute three times. The icy blast deflected off the megazord. "Nice try, fish for brains," Zack smirked, That won't work on these zords." Pirantis head looked down at his flute. "Okay," he sneered and reached for something behind his back, "We'll try this then." The monster prduced a rocket launcher resembling device. "Say goodbye Rangers!" The icy blast went straight through the Megazord shields, rocking the cockpit violently. "Status?" Jason demanded. Billy grappled with his panel. "Main power is fluctuating. Helm control is offline?" "Ranger to Megazord commands have been fused." Zack reported, "We're locked out." Jason was going to hate himself for the next order he was going to give. "Abandon ship!" Zedd smirked as Goldar's report camethrough. "Master, we have control of the Thunder Megazord. We can transfer control of the zords to the mutant Rangers." "And the Rangers themselves?" "They are in the custody of Commander Crayfish." "Good. have Slippery Shark and the mutant rangers standby for stage three." Alpha dashed all over the command centre. "Zordon, the rangers have completley vanished from our scanners." "I have also lost communication with the thunderzords. Alpha, summon Tommy right away and attempt to revive Green Ranger. We need his help now more than ever." Within moments, Tommy had arrived in the command centre and he and Alpha five stood over the body of the Green Ranger, who was now stirring. The damage to his helmet and burns to his shield had been repaired. "Did anyone get the number of that mountain?" Tommy helped the Green Ranger to a sitting position. "Easy, you took a rough blast." Green Ranger turned to him. "Ohh...", he groaned, "Where am I?" He stood up and powered down. Max looked around the Command Centre. "Looks like you're a few Rangers short." "Thats why we brought you round so quickly." Alpha replied, "The other rangers have been captured." "And the Thunder Megazord is now under the command of the mutant rangers." "Mutant Rangers?" Max asked, confused. "Putties with a kind of Mirror morpher. They can impersonate us in a morphed state. We faced them last year." "Like the Green Ranger at the bank." Max answered. "Which means the Dragonzord is at risk as well." Zordon shook his head. "The Tigerzord and Dragonzord are different to the other zords. They cannot replicate Saba nor the Dragon Dagger." "Even so," Tommy stated, "Neither the Tigerzord or the Dragonzord is a match for the Thunder Megazord." "And," Max continued, "There is only two of us against six mutant Rangers." Tommy looked over at him. "Don't forget Pirantis head and Goldar too. We need a plan." The Command centre; several hours later. "Hows this for a plan? We go in, we start hitting mutants and monsters hard in the face." Max growled. Tommy shook his head in a mock laugh. "You know, that's just typical of you. Rush right in where careful thought is needed." "You know the saying, Tommy boy. The best laid plans of mice and men..." Max pushed his face so it was right in Tommy's. "I watched innocent soldiers get slaughtered following a carefully laid out plan. I do not intend to repeat that process. If you can't work with me, maybe I should try to get the Rangers on my own." Tommy stood up, his chair thrown back, "Don't be crazy. You'd be killed in an instant. If you knew anything about being a leader..." "I know that a leader should never leave his men on the battlefield. He should make sure every one of them comes home...even if he doesn't. The two Rangers stood for a moment, eyeballing one another. Out of fear, out of respect. Each knowing the other had a point, but not a chance of admitting it. The mood suddenly changed though as both men laughed. "We're not going to get anywhere like this." Tommy stated. Max nodded in agreement. "If the Megazord comes, I can set the Dragonzord on remote to battle it." Tommy beckoned him over to where the battle plans Alpha had drawn up were. "Our main target should be Pirantis Head. More specifically, his rocket launcher." He looked up at Max, "As long as he has it, the Tigerzord and the Dragonzord could be lost too." The map was a plan of the forest cliff clearing which seperated Angel Grove from Stone Canyon. Max pointed to the cliff. "If I was Lord Zedd planning an ambush, I would launch attacks from here...and here simultneously. With the bait, the other Rangers in this case, being here." He concluded, pointing to the centre of the cliff. Zordon materialised back in his tube. The old sage had spent the last few hours in the hidden chamber underneath the command centre. "Rangers, I have some good news for you." "You've found the others?" Tommy asked, hopefully. "No Tommy. I have devised a way for you to combat the Thunder Megazord. However, it will require the complete cooperation of both of you." "You know it, Zordon." Tommy agreed. "We'll do it." Max affirmed. Zordon beckoned them to turn to the viewing globe. They saw the Tigerzord warrior mode form and the Dragonzord split, like when the old Mega Dragonzord was formed. "I present the White Tiger Dragonzord." The Dragonzord was split over the head and shoulders of the Tigerzord. The Tail was attached to the zord's new outer arm on the right side. They had a chance. They had each other. "Lets go to work." Tommy cried. Both Rangers pulled out their morphers and activated them. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!!" they both called. "White Tiger!" "Dragonzord!" They had all been here before. The last time, it had nearly robbed them of their powers. This time, they had been torn from their zords. Zack was on the verge pf kicking the bars which surrounded the Dark Dimension. Jason stopped him. "Don't be stupid, Zack." The Black ranger looked at his friend. "How the hell are we gonna get out of here?" "Tommy'll find a way." Jason stated. "And he's got Green Ranger for help." Trini stated. "If he's recovered." "And they don't end up fighting each other." Jason turned to his bickering team. "Guys, we have to hope. If we don't have hope, we don't have anything." "You're right about that." Jason recognised the voice that had come from the mist. The anger. The spite in the tone. For that voice was his own. They watched as five shadows emerged from the mist. Fully morphed Power Ranger duplicates. The Red Ranger duplicate stepped forward. "When we're done, the Power Rangers of Earth will be remembered as destroyers of worlds. Their own." "You'll never win." Kim stated, not believing a word of what she was saying. And her duplicate knew it. "We will win," it said, "Thanks to our wildcard." The Red Ranger duplicate turned to his team. "Well, Rangers, I guess it's time to go to work." He leaned in close to Jason. "Let's show them the power of thunder." Max and Tommy materialised in the gorge underneath the cliff. The Green and White Rangers walked back to back, each watching one side of the cliff. "I don't like this, Tommy." Green Ranger stated. "I'm not too crazy on it either, man." He looked down at his belt. "What I wouldn't give for a blade blaster right now." he murmured. Max put his hand across White Ranger's shield. "You hear that?" Both men stopped, listening for the slightest sound. As soon as they stopped, a white blurr drove through them, scattering the two rangers. Max rolled to his feet. "Friend of yours?" Tommy did likewise. "Slippery Shark. Watch out for his fin!" Shark came to a dead halt. "Here, rangers, test this out!" The fin was heading straight for Max. Tommy leapt into the air, unsheathing Saba, and sliced the fin in two. Max thanked him as he landed. "Very good, White Ranger!" Both Rangers turned to see where the new voices had come from. Two new monsters now stood atop the cliff. "Pirantis Head, Commander Crayfish!" White Ranger growled. Commander Crayfish turned to his sidekick. "Pirantis head, if you please..." Pirantis head nodded and activated a small device on his wrist. Then six beams materialised in the clearing ahead of them. "Mutant Rangers, I presume." Max asked. The five original mutant Rangers raised their hands to the sky. The thing Max and Tommy were dreading. "We need Thunderzord power, Now!!" They felt it, the tug on their powers as their zords were called against their will. It hurt. God it hurt. The Thunder Megazord linked together, now fully under the control of the mutant rangers. Not only did they have their own Megazord to deal with, they had four monsters. Slippery Shark, Commander Crayfish, Pirantis Head and the mutant Green Ranger. Max pointed at his duplicate. "I'll take him and the Crayfish!" Tommy stopped him before he could move. "No. Call the Dragonzord and put it on remote. The Green Ranger is something I have to put away. Taking him out will help." Max nodded. "I'll be back before you know it." White Ranger drew the four monsters on, swirling Saba around in front of him. Crayfish charged first. Tommy parried the blow from his sword with Saba. He kicked Shark back, causing him to stumble. The Mutant Green Ranger was in next. He wrapped Saba with the Sword of darkness. Pirantis head then blasted him with the launcher. Max drew the dagger from the black sheath on his belt. "C'mon, friend. Let's go to work!" He raised the flute to his lips and played the summoning tune. The great beast rose from it's home in Angel Grove Harbour and fired upon the Thunder Megazord. The Red Ranger regrouped his felow mutants. "Look. There's five of us, one of him. Thunder Sabre!" The Megazord drew the sabre from the black and gold scabbard and slashed the Dragonzord across the chest. Green Ranger winced along with his zord. "Let's take it up a gear, big man. Battle mode, now!" He raised the dagger again, this time playing the tune to push the Dragonzord into it's most agressive state. Max heard a scream and looked down from the cliff. White Ranger...Tommy, was in trouble. He knew what he had to do. Tommy felt himself picked up by a flash of green light. He and Max had been driven back. The Dragonzord was combating the Thunder Megazord but to no avail. Tommy knew the zord would never give up though. Max materialised. "We need another plan." "Got any ideas?" Max nodded. "I have some, residual memories of the first Green Ranger...when he was evil." He looked at the Green Ranger duplicate. "Our costumes are identical. Maybe I can impersonate him. Can you lure him in here?" Tommy nodded. "Watch this." Crayfish looked around. "Where'd they go?" The Mutant Green Ranger scanned the area. "Split up. Find them!" M/Green Ranger heard something in the bushes. "What the..." He drew his duplicate Dragon dagger and moved in. White Ranger caught him by the throat. "Hello." The other Green Ranger came out infront of him. "Goodbye." he said and drove his fist through the visor. "Get outta here, Tommy. I'll bring them home." Tommy touched his morpher. "You better." "Mutant!!" Crayfish had lost sight of the Mutant Green Ranger. He was partly relieved to see him stumble into the clearing. "You found him?" The Ranger nodded. "I killed him." he said and pointed to the body. "I'm going onto the Megazord." Red Muant Ranger turned to see his comrade enter from the door behind them. "They dead?" "White Ranger got away. Green Ranger is dead." He produced something from his belt. "Look what I have." "Thats the fake dagger you had." Blue Mutant said. "No. Watch." The Dragonzord tune eminated from the Dagger. Within moments the Dragonzord had ceased it's attack on the Megazord. "Nice work, you got us the Dragonzord. Now we go after White ranger." "Wait. What do you say we make him suffer a little? We have all the Rangers, Green Ranger is dead. The Zords are ours. Let's toy with him a little." Black Mutant sniggered. "I like the way you think my brother." he laughed. Tommy materialised back in the Command centre, the unconscious Mutant Green Ranger in his arms. "Get him into the holding cell." Alpha obeyed silently and teleported him in. "Wheres Max?" Tommy approached the cell, removing his helmet as he walked. "With our friends. I want to talk to him when he wakes up." Goldar waited in the Dark Dimension for his Rangers to return. He had been taunting Jason and the others ever since he came in here. That pain had almost been worse than he could cause with his sword. Almost. The roar of teleport signals drew his attention. Goldar approached the Red Mutant. Jason couldn't hear exactly what was said between Goldar and his counterpart. All he could make out were the words Dragon dagger. Judging by the looks on the faces of Billy, Zack, Trini and Kimberley, they had heard the same thing. "White Ranger is alone now. Their Green Ranger was disabled and we now have control of the Dragonzord." Goldar sneered and approached Green Ranger Mutant. "Good work, ranger. You did well." He patted him on the shoulder. It took all of his self control not to attack Goldar. In years gone by, he would have, without a doubt. But the stakes were too high for that. "We will destroy White Ranger. We have the Thunder Dragon Battlezord now." Red Mutant stated. Goldar nodded. "Rest now, My rangers, White Ranger is most resourceful. He will not be beaten easily." He knew where he was. How the hell had he ended up here? He raised his head to see Whitte Ranger in his de-morphed form looking down at him. "Don't even think about trying your communicator." The young man growled, "I'm afraid I accidently stood on it. Thats what we humans refer to as sacasm." "I got that much." The mutant growled. "Good." Tommy continued, "So you're not totally stupid then." It had seemed like hours had passed in the Dark Dimension since Goldar and the mutants had left. The cage seemed smaller than it had when they had first been brought here. He heard a groan from the corner. "Billy?" Jason asked, "You okay?" "Yeah," the blue ranger answered, "I just have a little cramp in my leg." A flash of green brought the red ranger back to the reality of the situation. The Green Mutant Ranger materialised and ran toward them. "Well," Zack stated, arms folded in defiance, "Back to taunt us a little more?" Green Ranger looked around. "Be quiet. It's me." "Green Ranger, prove it." Billy stated. "You gave me a communicator after we defeated Scorpina." "Lucky guess." Trini growled. "Mutants are putties when they are not morphed, right?" He crossed his arms and desctivated his powers. A young man stood where the Green Ranger had been. "Do I look like a putty to you?" Jason nodded. "Alright, lets get out of here." Max drew his Dragon dagger and slashed the lock on the cage. The Rangers were free. Zedd could feel a surge of energy flow from him. "Goldar, Mutants, report to the Dark Dimension. I sense a problem with our guests." Alpha had just finished rebuilding the long dormant Portal-Com device. Tommy had mixed memories of this device. The last time he had seen it was the last time he had morphed as a fuly powered Green Ranger. "Any sign of Max and the others?" Zordon nodded. "I am receiving six distinct energy signatures." Tommy prayed. "Come on, guys. Walk through the door." A swirl began to form amongst the mist in the Dark Dimension. This was it. Their way home. "C'mon," Kim yelled, "Let's go!" She started for the portal with the other Rangers in tow. "Hold it right there!" Goldar and the mutants were there. Red mutant stepped up. "So thats how you got the Dragon dagger. I knew I smelled a rat." "Don't give yourself any credit. You're as dense as the clay you were built from." Max growled. He noticed Jason had called on his power sword. He raised the dagger and crossed it with the sword. The Red and Green blast drove the duplicates back into the mist. The relief on Tommy's face as the other Rangers ran through the portal was obvious. He embraced each of them in turn, including their rescuer. Max nodded. "I guess it's time to answer some of those questions, huh?" he said and explained the story of how he came into possesion of a fully charged Green Power Coin. The story was interrupted by the alarm. The Thunder Megazord was back. "Oh man," Tommy moaned, "Things just keep going from bad to worse." Jason spoke up. "We have to retake our zords, Zordon!" Zordon grimaced. "I know." "So it's settled then." Tommy agreed and looked at his team... ...the complete team of seven rangers. "Let's do it." "It's Morphin' Time!" "White Tiger!" "Mastadon!" "Pteradactyal!" "Triceratops!" "Sabre Tooth Tiger!" "Tyrannosaurus!" "Dragonzord!" Zordon looked at the spot where the Rangers had stood a moment ago. "Alpha, we have to create a fusion field around the Thunder Megazord. Maybe it will force the Mutants out." "And if it doesn't?" the robot asked. "The Rangers will destroy the zords if they have to." The six mutants were waiting at the Sotne Canyon gorge. Pirantis head was gone, but the zords were still under the command of the mutant rangers. The mutant Red Ranger turned to Commander Crayfish. "Where the hell are they?" Crayfish remained focused. "They'll be here." "When?" "Now!" They turned to be rushed by the rangers, weapons drawn. "Well, Maxie," Red mutant started, "Good to see you with your own side." Green Ranger nodded, "I can see you made a third generation me." "Thats right." Crayfish growled. "Well, you know what they say," White Ranger growled, "You can't beat the originals." All Rangers took up fighting stances. "Power Rangers, Power Up!" they cried. The mutants and Rangers charged each other, each taking on their counterpart. White Ranger took on the leader of the Mutants, Commander Crayfish. His weapon was a black clade, the complete opposite of what Saba represented. The Sword of darkness was a weapon of beauty. Max couldn't help but think that as he parried it with his Dragon dagger. The Mutant pressed his face in against Max's own. "Face it. You can't win." he growled as he slashed Max across the chest. The other rangers weren't faring well either. Their mutant counterparts definately had the upper hand. Red Mutant signalled to his team to back off. "Alright, mutants, Lets show them the power of thunder!" As soon as the words left his lips, the fleet of evil thunderzords appeared and combined into the Thunder Megazord. Max and Tommy looked up at the Thunder Megazord, then at each other. Max unsheathed the dragon dagger. "Ready to go to work?" "Ready as I'll ever be. White Tigerzord, power up!" "Dragonzord, Power up!" Both the zords of the Green and White Rangers surfaced from their respective hiding places and the rangers teleported to the cockpits. The Tigerzord converted to warrior mode. With Max and Tommy gone to the zords, it was left to Jason and the others to battle the Mutant Rangers and Commander Crayfish. Jason pushed himself to his feet using the power sword as a crutch. "We gotta hand in there, guys." Zack nodded, wearily wielding the Power Axe. "Jase is right. C'mon, We're the Power Rangers!" Crayfish laughed. "Not for long you're not. Assemble Power Blaster!" The Rangers got into position to assemble their own Blaster. The race was on to see who could get theirs together first. Both were ready at the same moment. "Power Rangers," Jason called, "Ready..." "Aim..." Red Mutant called. "Fire!!!" The two beams met, sending feedback along the line of the Mutant Power Blaster. The Mutant team scattered. Red Mutant scrambled to his feet to see the Megazord being double teamed by the White Tigerzord and the Dragonzord. The Mutants teleported to the cockpit. "Alright. Lets give these guys a taste of their own medicine. Thunder Sabre!" Both of the individual zords were rocked by the sheer power of the Megazord sabre. Max opened a channel to the Tigerzord. "We have to do it, Tommy." "Agreed." White Ranger nodded, "Initiate White Tiger Dragonzord sequence!" Alpha put the finishing touches to the second part of the plan. "Fusion field is ready. Iniating now!" The Mutant Rangers cringed in pain as a force field enveloped the cockpit of the Thunder Megazord. The field crushed the Rangers, draining them of their powers, returning them to their rightful owners. Max and Tommy watched from the Tiger Dragonzord's cockpit as the field expanded to cover the full Megazord. They watched in earnst as the putties impersonating the rangers were thrown from the megazord. "They're out!" Tommy yelled, "Guys, get in there." Jason and the other Rangers materialised in their respective seats. "Check all status!" Jason demanded. "Everything seems normal. We have full control." Trini reported. A repeating beep beep beep filled the cockpit. "Wait a minute." Billy stated, "I'm picking up an overload in the fusion reactors." "Get out of there!" Tommy yelled over the intercom. "The fusion field must have caused a disturbance in the intermix cooler. Everybody out, NOW!!" Billy yelled. Zordon watched the events unfold from the Command Centre. "Alpha, teleport the Rangers out now!" Alpha activated the teleporter and the five beams dissolved from the Megazord cockpit. Max and Tommy were also teleported from the Dragon Tigerzord. They could only watch as the zords began to rip themselves apart, bangs and explosions filling the air. The joints of the Thunder Megazord came apart, creating craters in the ground when they fell. "NOOO!!!" Kimberley yelled and tried to dash forward. Tommy grabbed her, restraining her for her own good. "They're gone Kim." he said as The Dragon Tigerzord dissassembled. The Tigerzord began to fall apart too, leaving a powerless but intact Dragonzord lying dormant on the ground. "Dragonzord!" Max cried. The Dragonzord's eyes flashed once at his master's call, then the life drained from them for the final time. Alpha shot up from the console. "Zordon!" he yelled "The destruction of the Thunderzords has sent a feedback beam through the Morphin Grid, sending it into a state of extreme flux." he finished as the console behind him exploded. The robot's warning had come all to late though. He looked up at Zordon's tube. Zordon was gone. The last explosion had caused them to de-morph, ripping them of their Ranger powers. Each Ranger helped another to his feet. "Everyone okay?" Max asked. "Seems so." Trini asked. Jason looked around the group. "Not all of us. Where's Billy?" He was gone. The brain of the ranger team. The vital cog in the well oiled machine. "NO!" Zack Taylor had broken down in tears at the sight of his best friend's broken body, lying yards from the ruined remains of the six thunderzords. His power morpher still around his waist, charred and burned, but still there."Breathe, Billy." he yelled between giving him CPR, "Breathe! Don't you die on me! DON'T YOU DARE DIE!!"Jason and Trini had to lean down and pull the distraught teen away from him. "Zack", Trini sobbed, "He's gone." Category:Story